The Human Action Podcast

Dr. Jonathan Newman returns to the Human Action Podcast to discuss the relaunch of the Mises Academy—including his new course based on Bob's Lessons for the Young Economist textbook. But this conversation goes much deeper than curriculum. Bob and Jonathan unpack the fundamental question: What is economics, really? They explore how Austrian economics differs from psychology, history, and the natural sciences, why economics is more about understanding than prediction, and how praxeology reveals the logical structure of human choice.

Dr. Joe Salerno joins Bob to review the recent tensions between Donald Trump and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. As Trump questions Powell’s leadership and Fed policy, they explore the deeper issues: Should central banks really be "independent"? Does the Fed’s shield from political oversight protect sound economics—or merely insulate elites from accountability? Murphy and Salerno tackle myths about interest rates, inflation, debt monetization, and the Fed’s true relationship with government spending.

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The Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) crowd prides itself on fidelity to actual history. But Murphy shows how leading MMT guru Randall Wray completely distorts his discussion of two historical episodes in his college lecture.

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In this episode, Bob breaks down the Triffin dilemma, explaining why it's wrong to assume that maintaining global reserve currency status requires ever-increasing U.S. trade deficits. He shows that America’s chronic deficits are driven more by government spending and fiat money than by global necessity, making the case that returning to fiscal discipline and sound money—not tariffs—is the key to reversing America’s economic decline.

Jonathan Newman joins Bob to discuss the debate between Austrians and MMTers on the origins of money. In the Anti-MMT panel at the Austrian Economics Research Conference (AERC), Jonathan presented his research on the archeological evidence that silver was used as money in ancient Mesopotamia and how the evidence vindicates Menger's theory on the origins of money. Jonathan and Bob walk through various MMT responses and make the case that the Austrian school is especially suited to critique Modern Monetary Theory.

Patrick Newman joins Bob to discuss one of his talks at the Austrian Economics Research Conference (AERC), where he explained that Simon Kuznets–who developed the method of calculating GNP and GDP statistics–had serious doubts about how to include government expenditures.

The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Murray Rothbard’s, What Has Government Done to Our Money? Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

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Bob responds to recent tweets that believe trade deficits are a sign of economic strength. He also includes an op-ed from Robert Barro and a clip from Milton Friedman, to show that even big gun economists can often speak in misleading ways when it comes to trade deficits.

One of the common worries about a hard money like gold or Bitcoin is that large price deflation could make lending and investment impossible because nominal interest rates can't go below 0%. Bob explains why these fears are invalid.

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Bob first reviews the standard libertarian case for legalizing drugs as the way to neutralize the Mexican drug cartels. Then he plays a recent clip where Dave Smith argues that drug prohibition leads to violence because (among other factors) you can't call the cops if someone steals your product. Bob argues that libertarians should stop making this (invalid) argument.

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Grove City College has recently digitized its collection of post-war materials—including photos, correspondence, and manuscripts—from the great Austrian economist, Ludwig von Mises. Mises' biographer, Guido Hülsmann, joins Bob to discuss some of the treasures that have been made available online.

Murray's 99th birthday is March 2. Please share pictures of yourself (hashtag #happybirthdayrothbard) reading a Rothbard book or wearing a Rothbard t-shirt. The Mises Institute is celebrating with its Murray...

Some have proposed that the spending cuts identified by DOGE be directed towards a $5000 tax rebate for Americans who pay federal taxes. Critics warn it could be inflationary, just like the COVID-era stimmies. Bob disagrees, explaining that the DOGE spending cuts offset the impact.

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Josh Hendrickson is the chair of the Economics Department at the University of Mississippi. He recently brought to Twitter's attention a 41-page document released in November by Stephen Miran, the Harvard PhD whom Trump has nominated as the new chair of the Council of Economic Advisors. The document spells out a strategy of using tariffs and deregulation to Make America Great Again.

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Erick Brimen is the CEO of Honduras Próspera, which is described as a "start up city" that offers choice in regulatory treatment. It is an exciting application of libertarian theory to the messy real world of existing States.

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Bob analyzes President Trump's recent remarks praising the revenue capacity of tariffs. He shows that historically, tariffs only bought in a small fraction of what income taxes currently yield, meaning federal spending would have to be sharply cut in order to phase out the income tax.

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Murphy recently squared off against Nathan Tankus in a ZeroHedge debate focusing on Austrian economics vs. Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). Jonathan Newman watched the debate and selected three clips highlighting key areas of dispute. Jonathan and Bob elaborate on the issues and anticipate possible MMT replies.

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Lawrence McQuillan from the Independent Institute joins Bob to delve into the regulatory failures and mismanagement behind the wildfire crisis in California. They discuss the environmental policies that exacerbate risks, offer practical solutions to firefighting and prevention shortcomings, and examine the role of private stewardship in mitigating future disasters. This episode overall sheds light on how California’s political landscape and approach to wildfires continues to fuel a recurring tragedy.

Bob looks at the misconceptions and misuses of GDP accounting, explaining why this widely accepted metric often paints a misleading picture of economic health.

The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Murray Rothbard’s, What Has Government Done to Our Money? Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

Bob walks through diagrams from Hayek's famous LSE lectures to explain the Austrian view of the boom-bust cycle.

The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Murray Rothbard’s, What Has Government Done to Our Money? Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

Matt McCaffrey is a former Mises Institute research fellow with an expertise in the American economist (and Austrian fellow-traveler) Frank Fetter. He joins Bob to discuss his newly published journal article exploring the dispute Fetter had with the august British economist Alfred Marshall over the theory of rent.

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Keith Smith, MD is an anesthesiologist and founder of the cash-price Surgery Center of Oklahoma. In the wake of the shooting of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson, Keith explains why US health care is so expensive and how to fix it. 

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Using the heavily marketed movie "Wicked" as his news hook, Bob explains that the beloved Wizard of Oz movie involved an allegory of the bimetallism debates of the late 1800s, including William Jennings Bryan's famous "Cross of Gold" speech. Bob fills in the details about the Wizard of Oz lore, and then explains the economics of bimetallism in the United States.

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David Glasner is a UCLA-trained economist specializing in monetary theory and the history of economic thought. He has disagreed in print with Murphy's take on the famous Sraffa-Hayek debate. David first explains his general views and then comments on the debate.

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In 1997, Bryan Caplan wrote an essay explaining why he was no longer a self-described Austrian. Recently, a reader asked him to comment on that essay. Bob reacts to Bryan's current views, arguing that the history of economic thought is indeed important, and the Misesian approach to praxeology is crucial.

Bob discusses common talking points that pro-free-trade economists often use when making the case against tariffs. The purpose is to facilitate discussion so both sides have a deeper understanding of the subtle issues involved.

The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Murray Rothbard’s, What Has Government Done to Our Money? Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

Amy LePore's doctoral dissertation covered the perverse incentives of federal money for disaster management on local officials. She joins Bob to talk about FEMA's poor track record in recent disasters but also going back to Hurricane Katrina.

The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Murray Rothbard’s, What Has Government Done to Our Money? Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

After explaining the backstory of how Bob put forth a proposal for codifying property rights in space-based resources, Bob then explains how the prospect of a future inflow of extraterrestrial riches could boost the standard of living on Earth in the near term.

The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Murray Rothbard’s, What Has Government Done to Our Money? Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

Mises Fellow Kristoffer Hansen joins Bob to discuss Mises' perspective on fractional reserve banking and free banking. Earlier this month, Larry White referenced Hansen’s work on fractional reserve banking, asserting that Hansen indicated Mises acknowledged the benefits of FRB. Kristoffer clarifies his paper and examines what Mises wrote in Human Action on the topic.

Additionally, Bob and Kristoffer delve into the influence of the Currency School on banking and economic instability, as well as how commodity-backed money might impact the business cycle.

In response to Murphy's recent article on comparative advantage, economist Jorge Morales Meoqui objected that Murphy was continuing the same erroneous story about Adam Smith vs. David Ricardo. In this episode, Murphy clarifies what is right and wrong in Meoqui's own paper on the topic.

The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Murray Rothbard’s, What Has Government Done to Our Money? Ge...

Murphy lays out the various camps in the debate over FRB. He endorses the view of Joe Salerno, namely that Mises favored "free banking" as the best means for limiting credit expansion and ensuring banks carry high reserve ratios.

The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Murray Rothbard’s, What Has Government Done to Our Money? Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

Dr. Philipp Bagus explains the main ideas from his new book, Full Reserve Banking versus the Real Bills Doctrine, which defends Misesian business cycle theory from a recent critique. Bagus provides an in-depth criticism of the Real Bills Doctrine, emphasizing the importance of real savings in economic stability. He defends full reserve banking and critiques fractional reserve systems for creating money without real economic backing, leading to inflation and business cycles.

Paul Cwik revisits the podcast to explain his new book, which aims to simplify ABCT for economics students and professors, especially those teaching at the principles level. Dr. Cwik critiques mainstream economic theories for oversimplifying business cycles, arguing that the Austrian theory better explains systemic errors and the boom-bust cycle driven by distorted interest rates.

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Tom Luongo hosts the Gold, Goats, 'n Guns podcast and newsletter. He explains the different factions among bankers, including rivalries between New York and San Francisco, and the US versus Europe.

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David R. Henderson is a research fellow with the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He joins Bob to critique a recent Brad DeLong essay, which argued that the US had tried an experiment in "neo-liberalism" and that it failed utterly.

In this episode of the Human Action Podcast, Bob welcomes guest Joshua Mawhorter to discuss his recent article on the role of government in sustaining slavery. The conversation covers several key points, including slave patrols, fugitive slave laws, manumission restrictions, and constitutional subsidies. Mawhorter argues that slavery persisted largely due to government intervention rather than free-market mechanisms and highlights the inefficiencies and extensive costs associated with maintaining the institution. They also touch on modern discussions of reparations and the historical patterns of slavery's abolition in other countries.

Bob goes solo to explain the contributions of Carl Menger and Ludwig von Mises to monetary theory. He then deals with the critique of David Graeber, who argues that the economists' story of the origin of money is bogus.

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Dr. Jonathan Newman joins Bob to analyze Kamala Harris's proposals against price gouging, and how some mainstream economists defend Government price controls. They also address misconceptions about price gouging and the evolving mainstream narrative on inflation.

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Bob quotes from David Ricardo to show that the classical economists understood that utility was essential to explaining market value, but then he also explains why the Marginalist Revolution was a scientific advancement.

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With recent market turbulence and new potential recession indicators emerging, Peter St. Onge joins Bob to examine whether market performance accurately reflects the true state of economic health. There is rising debt, growing entitlements, and ongoing structural issues within the US economy, Bob and Professor St. Onge analyze how these factors contribute to our current economic landscape and whether recent developments are indicative of a 1987-style crash or a 2008-style crash.

They also explain the Japanese carry trade, its impact on the dollar and Japanese markets, and the recent market fluctuations, including the significant decline in the...

Bob goes solo to give the historical context and true meaning behind "Say's Law," as well as the caricature presented by Keynesian critics.

The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Murray Rothbard's, What Has Government Done to Our Money? Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

Recorded in front of a live audience at the 2024 Mises University, Bob discusses recent market turbulence with Mark Thornton. They also delve into the Skyscraper theory and the practicality of the Austrian Business Cycle Theory.

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